Anti-Hoskins flier has racial overtones

An anonymous flier delivered to Forest Park homes depicts Village Commissioner Rory Hoskins as if posing in a police lineup. Under the headline "Rory Hoskins Exposed," a photograph of Hoskins is shown against a height-measurement backdrop used in police mug shots. A red "X" is superimposed across Hoskin's photo. The flier was printed on 8½ x 11 paper with a vintage cartoon of a newsboy on the other side.

"For the record, I have never been to jail," commented Hoskins by email. "It is my understanding that the flier was distributed Sunday in Forest Park, and at the Rock of Ages Baptist Church (ROA) in Maywood. Several people who attended services at ROA found the flier on their windshields upon returning to their vehicles after church."

The flier contains a list of complaints about Hoskins' two terms as Forest Park village commissioner, including allegations that he "hired a prostitute" and "recommended a convicted felon" for hire in District 91. The flier also accuses Hoskins of breaches of precise details of village protocol, such as authorizing employee benefits without board approval "beyond his legal authority," refusing to return a phone call to an accreditation agency and voting against alley improvements.

"There are clearly coded messages here, trying to dissuade white voters in River Forest, LaGrange Park and Westchester from backing Rory. It's so clear Ray Charles can see it," said Hoskins Campaign Manager Larry Shapiro. "I got a call from a woman in River Forest incensed that she got this piece." Shapiro also called the piece "scurrilous lies" and "an 11th-hour tactic showing the level of desperation of a candidate [Chris Welch] whose antics have caught up with him and who's drowning in the quicksand of District 209."

Linda Tyson, campaign manager for Chris Welch, said in an email, "I run a positive campaign. I cannot tell you if [the allegations on the flier] are accurate or not, but I can tell you that no one from my campaign has created this flier."

While I am certainly no Chris Welch fan, who seems to be addled in the integrity department, Larry Shapiro complaining about dirty campaign tactics is almost laughable. He does this kind of thing with a number of candidates and it just as likely that Mr. Shapiro created it. Sorry, Rory, but when you sleep with dogs....

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